Caught!
by coonassblondie
Summary: Ron walks in on Charlie and Hermione, and all hell breaks loose! CWHG, some RWLL.
1. Chapter 1

This is a fanfic I've been working on. I'm an avid Harry Potter fan, and this isn't my normal ship, but I've been reading other Charlie/Hermione fanfics and I couldn't resist trying my hand at my own.

Standard disclaimer: All HP characters belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros, and publishing companies. If they were mine, do you think I would be writing fanfic?!

Caught! 

"It's _not_ what you think, Ronald!" Hermione shouted, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Then _tell me_, Hermione! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK WHEN I CATCH MY GIRLFRIEND SNOGGING MY BROTHER?!!"

"It just happened, Ron, it..." she tried to explain before he cut her off.

"_It just happened?_ IT JUST HAPPENED?!" Ron shouted back, incredulous, "THAT doesn't JUST HAPPEN! So how long have you two been at it, huh? How long have you been running around behind my back?"

"_What?!_ We haven't..." Hermione stuttered, appalled at the thought of cheating on her boyfriend of 3 months and friend of several years. Anger started to kindle behind her inital shock of getting caught.

"Ronald Weasley, I cannot _believe_ you would accuse me of such a thing!" Hermione spat in a venoumous, quiet voice that should have warned Ron from experience to back off. As usual, he pushed ahead.

"BECAUSE I CAUGHT YOU SNOGGING MY BROTHER! ON THAT BED! IN THIS BEDROOM!!"

"Would you _let_ me explai..."

"WHY SHOULD I?! I'm not STUPID! I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner!" Ron spat angrily, his voice going hoarse from shouting.

"FINE! If you won't attempt to listen to an explanation or reason, I won't waste my breath. You _obviously_ don't trust me. It's _over_, Ronald." Hermione stated coldly, pointing her wand steadily at his chest. "And don't you _dare_ follow me or I will hex you where the sun doesn't shine!" She apparated to the den of the Burrow, leaving a stunned, pale and open-mouthed Ron sitting on the bed.

Harry and Ginny sat on the couch in the living room, quietly listening to the entire argument when Hermione suddenly appeared before them. Startled by her livid expression and pale countenance, Harry attempted conversation.

"Heya 'Mione! What's going on?"

"Don't start with me. You know perfectly well _'what's going on'_! You're friend is a stubborn, jealous, overbearing GIT!" Harry shuddered at the quiet venom in her voice. Hermione's temper was not something to be trifled with. It was a pity Ron hadn't learned the same. "I suggest you go check on him." Taking the hint that she wanted to be alone with Ginny, Harry apparented into the bedroom where Ron still sat on the bed, his head in his hands.

Harry apparated away, leaving Hermione staring daggers at Ginny. She knew Ginny had something to do with this fiasco, she just wasn't sure quite what it was.

"Where the _hell_ is Charlie?!" Hermione asked, pointing her wand at the youngest redhead.

"Uh, I'm not sure 'Mione..." Ginny started. Hermione narrowed her eyes at the younger girl.

"You _know_ where he is! TELL. ME. _NOW!_" She shouted, her voice getting louder with each step she took towards Ginny, her wand still focused on the range of her face.

"Look, Hermione, maybe you should calm down first..." Ginny tried to reason.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, if you don't take me to Charlie this instant you'll rue the day you taught me your bat bogey hex!" Hermione flared. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. This she could deal with. Shouting was second nature to all Weasleys. Well, the younger ones, anyway. This quiet anger of Hermione's, however, unnerved her a little.

"All right, don't get your knickers in a twist! Apparate me to George's flat and you can go to his room above the Three Broomsticks from there."

A few minutes and a loud crack later, she blasted the door to Charlie's room off it's hinges.

"Charles Arthur Weasley, you owe me one _hell_ of an explanation!"

Edited 8-14-2007. Fixed some typos and made the fic DH friendly. I will include a mild spoiler warning before future chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

http://coonassblondie. of Caught! (Part 2/?)

Standard disclaimer: If I owned HP or any of it's characters, do you honestly think I would be at home on a Saturday night reading and writing fanfic?As always, comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

_Hermione blasted the door to Charlie's room off it's hinges. _

_"Charles Arthur Weasley, you owe me one hell of an Explanation!"_

Hermione stood in the doorway, shocked. She couldn't seem to make her brain focus on words. Her inital anger dissipated into pity at the tear-stained face before her. Boys weren't supposed to cry like that. That's no boy, her subconscious supplied, that's all man. She studied his hunched over form. He was sitting on the bed shirtless, in a pair of muggle jeans. His hair appeared to have been raked through by his large callused hands several times in the past half hour. Her anger turned to shock and a small twinge of pity when he looked up and he saw his red cheeks and swollen eyes that held just a hint of something she couldn't quite define.

"Hello, Hermione." He calmly replied, raking his sleeve over his eyes and using his wand to repair the door. "I was wondering how long it would take."

"How long what would take?" she asked, trying to regain her temper.

"For you or my brother to show up and punch me in the nose. I certainly deserve it. I'll gladly let you do the dirty work as long as you promise to have a go at Ginny also. She started this mess."

"Oh, I've got it in for her also. What on earth were you two thinking?!" Hermion flared again, remembering why she was in his room. "And would you please put a shirt on, for Merlin's sake?"

"Of course," he replied sheepishly, pulling a white tee shirt over his head. "As for an explanation, Ginny dared me to, just to see how you would react. We weren't expecting Ron and Harry to come in when they did. You know I can't refuse a dare, Hermione, especially when it comes from my slip of a sister. I'm just sorry I angered you, and I'm sure Ron is furious."

"Oh, he'll get over it." she replied, her voice once again venomous. "So, how was I supposed to react? I'm not bloody Snow White you know!"

"I figured I would earn a slap across the cheek, and this is close enough. Ginny had other ideas. Since we now know who was right, let me offer my apologies. As the gentleman my mum thinks she raised, I should have never made a move on my little brothers girlfriend, no matter how many times I was dared to. I hurt part of my family, in turn hurting myself."

"Oh..so is that what you were so upset about?" She asked softly, all traces of temper gone after such a thorough apology, looking into his eyes. They were still glistening with unshed tears as he gazed at her, but also held a small glint of something else as he looked at her. She gasped inwardly, it couldn't be love...could it? No, she told herself, admiration maybe, attraction, slightly possible, but not love. He was way out of her league.

"Yea..something like that," he grunted, suddenly standing up. "Now, could you please leave me be? I apologized, you should be happy. I'll apologize to Ron when I come home later, if he'll let me without giving me a black eye first."

"I'd rather you give him the black eye." Hermione replied, bitterly. "And I'm not leaving until you tell me what's the matter. A dare gone wrong cannot possibly have you this worked up. Especially over your brothers girlfriend." she spat the last word as if it tasted bad on her tongue, "or should I say...ex-girlfriend."

"Oh, shite, Hermione. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have..if I had known..." Charlie stammered, pulling on his boots as quickly as he could, "I'll go right home and explain to him."

"Save your breath, Charlie. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You were just the catalyst for the explosion, it could've been anything. I'd rather stay here and talk things out with you. Now, are you going to tell me what's the matter with you? I may not have much experience in affairs of the heart...but I know that grown men don't usually appear the way you did when I blasted that door open..." Hermione rambled, then sheepishly adding "Sorry 'bout that, by the way."

"It's quite alright, I understand you were in a bit of a state. And I'm alright, or I will be...I'd really just rather not discuss it right now. Maybe later, yes?" Charlie asked, tying his boot laces and holding his arm out to her to leave the tavern. "Let's head back. I'm sure everyone is worried about us."

"Not everyone," Hermione replied bitterly, taking his arm, vaguely noticing how warm his embrace was.

"I'm sure it will be fine," he attempted to assure her.

"I certainly hope you're right."

Edited 8-14-2007. I fixed some typos and some grammatical mistakes, and attempted to make this story DH friendly. Future chapters will have a mild spoiler warning.


	3. Chapter 3

Standard disclaimer: I do not own any HP characters, they are all the property of the wonderful Joanne Rowling. However, if she wanted to send Charlie my way, I wouldn't argue.

A/N: For the sake of sanity, this story is going to be DH friendly, so if you haven't read the 7th book Mild spoiler warning.

For the purposes of this chapter, the Trio went back to Hogwarts for their 7th year and graduated with Ginny, and this story is set the summer afterwards. Percy, having been forgiven by his family, moved back to the Burrow and took up residence in his old bedroom. George, and a rather large portrait of Fred, live in a flat above thier shop. Ron and Harry are the rookies in Auror Training, Hermione has moved into Gred and Forge's old room to prepare to attend Wizard Univ. in London, she decided to stay at the Burrow so she would have easy access to Diagon Alley, most notably Flourish and Blotts bookstore. Charlie is on a month holidy from Romania, and is visiting his parents, and currently staying in his and Bill's old room. Ginny floats between the Burrow and George's flat, she cooks and cleans for him most days, generally staying overnight. Bill and Fleur and their year-old daughter, Victoire, live in France. Just a little bit of background so we don't get confused. Well, so I don't, anyway, hehe.

Also, I know that Chamomile and Ginseng don't make a great combination, tea wise. Personally, I hate tea, so it's hard to guess what goes well with what. However, the smell of chamomile and the taste of ginseng both have calming effects, so tea-lovers, don't flame me please?

Caught! (Part 3/?)

Charlie and Hermione apparated into the back yard of the Burrow, then took off in opposite directions, Charlie to attempt to have a civilized conversation with Ron, and Hermione to the kitchen to have a calming cup of tea before she faced off with Ginny. Hermione was pacifistic by nature, preferring to think things out before taking action. The Weasley children's method of shouting at and over each other, even when having normal conversations, stressed her out, sometimes causing her muscles to tense and her head to ache, making her miss her quiet muggle home, where there was rarely a lot of noise, as opposed to the organized chaos that took place daily at the Burrow. As she sipped her special blend of ginseng and chamomile tea, she noticed that the house was unusually quiet and mostly empty. The thought of a nice long bubble-bath crossed her mind.

She was glad for the opportunity to stay at the Burrow so she could have easier access to the wizarding world, most notably Diagon Alley, where Flourish & Blotts, the magic bookstore was located, as she prepared to attend the Wizarding Academy in London. However, sharing a bathroom with four other people, five now that Charlie had arrived for a well-deserved holiday from his dragons, had it's drawbacks. It was inevitable that when she needed the loo, someone else also did at the same time.

She could hear the muffled sounds of Ron, Harry and Charlie's voices above her as she climbed the stairs and stepped in the bathroom, filling the old fashioned claw-foot tub with steaming water, then placing a warming spell over the tub. She conjured enough pop-resistant pink and lilac perfumed bubbles to cover the top of the water before sinking into the hot water and sighing. She could feel the muscles in her feet and back relax as she lay her head back and closed her eyes, slowly dozing off.

"At least Charlie isn't as much a shouter as the rest," she thought to herself when she heard a couple of unintelligible words from Charlie's deep voice from above her head, "Hopefully Ron will listen calmly to him and Harry." She pushed all thoughts of the boys out of her head as she flexed her feet and draped her hair over the side of the tub, creating a pillow for her to rest her head against. She quickly dozed into a light slumber.

"Ron, mate, you're going to have to tell her eventually! You know that you had no right to get so angry at her, considering..." Harry attempted to reason with his best friend before he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Considering what, might I ask?" Charlie asked from the doorway, where he was leaning against the door jamb, "Or are you going to yell at me too?"

"Of course not," Ron replied, who had a pale, grim look on his face, "Come have a talk with me. Harry, budge up, let Charlie sit down. He should be a part of this, since he's apparently interested in Hermione."

Charlie's head shot up as he sat down on the camp bed next to Harry, the springs groaning under the weight of the two men.

"Hold on a minute! I'm not...well, that is...Ginny bloody dared me!" The tops of Charlie's ears turned a vibrant shad of red, "I just didn't want to admit defeat! You know bloody well how she can be!"

"Oh yes, we know," Harry grinned, "And stop panicking, Ron isn't mad any more. As a matter of fact, he was coming up here to tell 'Mione he was in luuurve when he lost...his...temper!" Harry emphasized the last three words by shaking his finger in Ron's face.

"And now he can't figure out how to tell Hermione, because he had to be a prat about catching you snogging her, and not letting her explain herself before he went totally mental!"

"Well, bloody hell, I was going to come up here and apologize for being a git and moving in on your girl, but it seems I'm in the clear. So, who's the lucky lady?" Charlie asked, grinning up at Ron, as he had slid to a position sitting in the floor so as to not break Harry's bed.

"Luna. You remember her from Bill's wedding? Thin...long blond hair...silver dress?" Ron replied, staring off into space with a wistful look, "pretty blue eyes..."

"Oh yea, Xeno Lovegood's daughter." Charlie replied, cutting Ron off before he got too mushy and embarrassed himself.

"Ron, mate, you've got it bad." Harry chuckled to himself.

"Little brother, all joking aside, what you've got that's bad is a serious double standard," Charlie replied sternly, looking Ron in the eye.

"A double what? I don't get it..." Ron looked at Harry, obviously confused.

"It's a muggle term," Harry supplied, "It means you hold someone to a different, usually higher standard that you do yourself. But who is the other pers...oh." Harry grinned sheepishly at Charlie, who had been steadfastly watching the two younger men work out his semi-cryptic statement.

"Who?!" Ron asked Harry, agitated. Charlie stood and turned to leave. He had made it to the hall when he heard Harry whack ron on the side of the head and shout "Hermione, you prat! You owe her an apology and an explanation!"

Charlie grinned to himself, this day was getting better already.

Charlie took note of Hermione peacefully dozing in the tub as he snuck in the bathroom and cast a silencing charm on the door. He had intended to wait for her to leave the room before taking care of his needs, but it had been the better part of an hour and he couldn't hold it in any longer. After discovering that Ginny had stayed at George's to make him dinner and his mum was shopping in London with Aunt Muriel, he had to consider alternatives to sending someone in after her. He knew his mum would have kittens if he used on the of the trees in the yard, so he settled for what he felt was his last choice: stealth, ingenuity and his wand.

Finishing at the loo and preparing to leave, he gave into his curiosity and stole a glance at Hermione. The everlasting bubbles she had conjured kept her decently covered in the dub and her chestnut curls flowed over the side, almost touching the floor. His hand, seeming to move of it's own free will, moved to stroke one of the ringlets; he wanted to find out if her hair was as soft as it looked.

When his hand touched her hair, she jumped almost imperceptibly, and he instinctively pulled away. She settled back into the water and he heard her snore lightly, and he realized that she was, indeed, asleep. Knowing how dangerous it is to sleep in a tub full of water, he placed a hand on each shoulder, in order to keep her from standing up, knowing she would be embarrassed if she did and caught him. He could feel a few knots of tension in the backs of her shoulders. As he gently massaged them, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Hermione?"

"Mmmmm..." was the only reply he received before she groggily mumbled, "That feels nice..."

He started to massage her shoulders a little harder and moved to the back of her neck, underneath her hear when she mumbled again,

"Who's that? How long've I been in here? I've got to..." she started to get up when he calmly held her in the water, keeping her underneath the bubbles by putting slight pressure on her shoulders and rubbing gently.

"Shhhh," he whispered, so she wouldn't recognize his voice and panic, "You've been in here a couple hours, I think you dozed off. Merlin you're tense."

"They have that effect on me..."she replied sleepily, settling back against his hands as he began massaging her shoulders again.

"Who does?" he whispered in her ear as he settled himself on the floor, folding his knees underneath him.

"Boys. Guys. Harry and Ron. Especially Ron. He needs to just tell her already." She mumbled.

"Tell who what?" Charlie moved his hands from her shoulders back up her neck and into her hair, massaging her scalp. He caught a whiff of something fruity.

"Luna. He loves her you know. I know, but he doesn't know I know. But it's ok, cause I like someone else too. But it doesn't matter. They don't care about me. Not in that way, anyway...Merlin that feels good. My mum used to do this. But you're not my mum. Who are you again?" Hermione spoke groggily, making it obvious she was neither awake nor alert. Charlie couldn't resist asking who this shy bookworm had such a crush on so much that she barely admitted it in her sleep, perhaps he would have something in his teasing/blackmail arsenal to use on her later, Merlin knew it was hard to catch her doing anything wrong.

"No, I'm not you're mum, I'm just a friend. So who do you like?" he whispered into her hair as he moved his hands back to massaging her shoulders and taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, the fruity smell must be the shampoo she used.

"That really does feel good, thank you. I'm so tense...I was so angry. At Ron, and at him. The person I like. Sometime I think I love him, but I shouldn't, because he's too old, too nice, too wonderful, he would never feel the same. Oh, Charlie..." She sighed, settling further into the hot water, causing his hands to get wet.

His eyes flew open and widened as he stood up, stunned. Did she know who he was, or was she still dozing? He was still panicking when the door flew open.

"Charlie! Hermione! What in the name of Circe is going on in here?!!" Molly's voice penetrated through Hermione's sleep induced haze and her eyes flew open. She sat up and looked around, catching Charlie's eyes and doing the only thing that crossed her mind: She screamed.

Note: Little evil mean cliffie I left there. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Note 2: I'm writing part 4 as we speak, please review!! Just push the little blue-purple button thingie, you know you want to!


	4. Chapter 4

Standard disclaimer: I do not own any HP characters, although if Mrs. Rowling wanted to send Charlie my way, I wouldn't argue.

Rating PG13 for some mild swearing. DH friendly, so mild spoiler warning, although if you havn't read the books you wouldn't get them. I also refuse to believe that Snape is dead, he's still very much alive in my own little world, with a nasty scar on his neck. We find out what happened in a later chapter, and I believe in giving credit where it's due, so I'll have to find the link to the fanfic where I originally came across the idea.

CW/HG, some DM/GW

Caught! Part 4

_"What in Circe's name is going on in here?"_

"Mum, it's not what it looks like..." Charlie began, holding both wet hands in front of him in surrender.

"OUT!! _NOW!!_" Molly shouted at her son, pointing at the open bathroom door, "We will discuss this later!" she yelled at him as he retreated down the stairs. Her face softened as she turned back to Hermione, who had grabbed her towel to wrap around herself and managed to soak it through.

"Are you all right, dear?" Molly asked, not unkindly, casting a drying charm on Hermione's towel.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley, just startled. I have such a headache..." Hermione replied, wrapping the now dry towel around herself and she stood up. She flicked her wand at the tub, vanishing both the bathwater and the bubbles. "I'm sorry to cause such a scene."

"Nonsense, dear. I've got some pepper-up potion downstairs in the kitchen, it'll be just the thing. Come on down when you need it." Molly replied as she laid Hermione's folded clothes on the lid of the commode.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replied to the older woman as Molly closed the door behind her and headed down to the kitchen to confront her son. Hermione started to dress and prepared herself mentally for a confrontation of her own, deciding that taking some pepper-up beforehand might be a wise idea.

"Charles Weasley, what were you _thinking?_" Molly shouted at Charlie for what he thought might've been the fifteenth time. He had lost count after five.

"I told you mum!" he shouted back, losing his temper, "I couldn't hold it anymore! So I snuck in! It was that or go in the woods, and we all know how much you just _love _that! I was _trying _to sneak back out when you came in!!" Charlie had no intention of his mother finding out about the information he had recently acquired. He would need to deal with Hermione's crush on him on his own. He wasn't entirely sure how, though.

_Think of the devil,_ he thought to himself as Hermione entered the kitchen and proceeded to make herself another cup of tea. Molly got up and started bustling around the kitchen, putting together a light snack for the three of them. _Heaven forbid anyone go hungry in Molly Weasley's kitchen, _Charlie snorted inwardly, _even if she is mad at them._ She also set a small vial of red potion in front of Hermione, who thanked her quietly and downed it with a grimace.

"I've never understood why potions always taste so horrid..." Hermione lightly chuckled to herself, just loud enough for Charlie to hear, "Perhaps I can change that in my university work."

"That'd be nice, dear. Merlin knows I always had a hard time getting the boys to take their potions, they tasted so bad," Molly concurred, also chucking lightly, "especially Charlie here. Hardheaded, that one..." She added, giving him an appraising glance.

"So you're studying Potions?" Charlie asked, before he could stop himself. Since when had he become interested in her coursework?

"Yes, that'll be my major, with a minor in Transfiguration." Hermione replied, smiling over her tea. "I apprenticed with professor Snape during 7th year." _Why on Earth did I tell him that?_ Hermione thought to herself, _he doesn't care about your studies, he's just being nice. _

"I thought Snape never took on apprentices?" Charlie asked, impressed. He was also curious as to how she had received the coveted postion as a potions apprentice with the greasy git of the dungeons.

"Oh, he owed me a favor," she replied nonchalantly, not wanting to go into details. Charlie became more curious, and promised himself he would find out what the favor was eventually.

"Is Ginny still at George's?" Hermione inquired of Molly, wanting to face the inevitable as soon as possible. Molly looked up from where she was casting scouring charms on some pots and pans and replied, "Why yes, dear. She mentioned cooking dinner for him tonight."

"That's great!," Hermione replied, grinning to herself, "I think I'll head over there and help her. I'm sure George would welcome some company. Charlie, would you like to come? Perhaps we can get up a game of exploding snap while there?" Hermione gave Charlie her best puppy dog eyes.

Charlie blanched, not sure if she was being serious. "I suppose I could come..." he replied slowly, "I haven't seen George yet, anyway, now's as good a time as any. We won't be around for dinner, mum."

"Be careful, you two!" Molly shouted after them as they headed for the broom shed outside the yard fence to apparate to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

As they apparated to the front of the joke shop, Charlie watched Hermione's countenance quickly change from a silly grin and puppy dog eyes to a serious countenance, her mouth set in a firm line and her eyes blazing. She reminded him of his brooding chinese fireball back in Romania; he had never seen anything more beautiful. _Beautiful? _he shouted to himself, _hold on, buck-o, this is your brother's girlfriend._

_Ex-girfriend _his subconscience supplied, _She and Ron broke up, remember?_

_But she's entirely too young for me._

_She's of age, and obviously very mature._

_But, she wouldn't be interested in me anyway. She's so smart, and I'm just a dumb dragon wrangler._

_Obviously you're wrong about that, _he could almost see his subconscience smirking at him as he heard her in his memory:

_"Oh, Charlie..."_

_Oh, shite, I can't believe this..._ was Charlie's last thought before he found himself in front of the door to Fred's apartment. He reached up to knock before Hermione grabbed his hand. He notice that her hands were soft and warm.

"We need a plan." Hermione stated, simply "We can't just burst in there and demand explanations. That won't work with Ginny, she'll just laugh."

"You're right," Charlie replied, thinking, "We need to play it smooth. Find out what her intentions were...unfortunatly, Ginny is very good liar."

"Only when she's sober." Hermione replied, smirking, and pulled a fifth of Ogden's Finest out of an inner pocket of her robes. "I think tonight's a good night for Wizard's I've Never, then perhaps a round of Truth or Dare."

"I like the way you think." He replied, watching her stow the firewisky back into her robes and knock on the door. He could hear footsteps coming toward the door, when Hermione spoke up again,

"Oh, and Charlie..about earlier? You know..in the loo?"

"Um, yea?" Charlie replied, not sure where this conversation was going, "What about it?"

"We'll discuss it later, alone?" Hermione stated, a bit of quiver in her voice.

"I'd like that." Charlie replied as the door flew open.

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she looked into a pair of thundercloud grey eyes.

Ginny heard a knock on the door, and knowing that it was probably Hermione come to confront her, hesitated from her place on the sofa.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" her companion asked, grinning. He knew perfectly well who was at the door. George had let him in on the situation before he had headed into his office to work on some new inventions. This was going to be fun.

"I'm not sure I should..." Ginny squeaked at him, "Who knows what she'll do to me?"

"Fine, I'll get it. So much for Gryffindor _courage_." He smirked at her before throwing open the door. He smirked at Hermione's reaction to his presence, her mouth dropping and her eyes becoming as round as saucers. The stocky redheaded fellow who accompanied her stuck out his hand. He took it in a firm handshake as Charlie introduced himself, the followed "And you are?"

"Nice to meet you, Charlie. I'm Draco Malfoy."

A/N: oooh, what's Draco doing there? Any guesses? Any ideas? Any comments, reviews, flames, cookies? Please let me know!! Your input is what keeps my muse happy.

A/N 2: Does anyone have any ideas for I've Never questions, or Truth or Dare quesitons/dares for the next chapter? Post a review and let me know. FYI, Harry, Ron, Luna and Pansy will also end up here, it's an impromptu party!


	5. Chapter 5

**Rating**: PG13 for mild language, some adult situations.  
**Word** **count**: 1,400  
**Standard disclaimer**: I do not, and never will, own any of the Harry Potter characters. That right lies solely with Mrs. Rowling, although if she wanted to send Charlie my way, I wouldn't complain.  
**Spoiler warning**: This fanfic is Deathly Hallows friendly. If you havn't read the seventh book, what the heck are you doing reading fanfic anyway?! Go read it! NOW!

**A/N**: I edited the dare from chapter 2, to fit into this chapter, I had an inspiration earlier in the week, that changed the course of this story, but it's still probably going to be 10 chapters long, so at the moment, we're halfway to the end. I realize this is a slow chapter, and nothing eventful happens, but it was necessary. Please read and review, even flames are appreciated!

Caught! Part (5/?)

"Hello, Draco. What are you doing here?" Hermione asked calmly, following Malfoy into the sitting area of the flat and settling down next to Charlie on the sofa across from Ginny, who had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face.

"You mean there is something Granger doesn't _know_?!" Draco sneered at Hermione.

"That's not fair, _Malfoy_," Hermione sneered in reply, spitting the name out as if it tasted foul. "You know perfectly well I've been sequestered in the dungeons at Hogwarts for the past three months with you're _lovely_ godfather!"

"Yes, Hermione, I knew that. And I will figure out, some day, how you got him to accept you as an apprentice when I've tried, fruitlessly, I might add, for the _past six years_!" Charlie shot Hermione a curious glance as he absorbed this new information. Perhaps he didn't know Hermione as well as he thought he had

* * *

About an hour of strained small talk later, when the guys started a debate over which professional quidditch team was the best, Hermione caught Ginny's eye.

"Ginny, might I have a word...in private?"

Ginny stiffened visibly andher eyes flicked nervously from Hermione to Charlie, who was thoroughly defending the Holyhead Harpies to Draco. She would receive no help from her favorite brother. She gave Hermione a slight nod before replying "of course" and starting toward her bedroom, Hermione following close behind. Hermione placed locking and silencing charms on the door before turning to Ginny, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

"You're not going to hex me into oblivion, are you?" Ginny couldn't help but ask.

"No, I'm not," Hermione replied with a sigh, sitting down next to Ginny on the side of the bed, "Believe me, the thought crossed my mind, but I'm over it. I'm not really angry anymore, just embarrassed. I'm _incredibly_ embarrassed. _Why_ did you have to dare him to do that, Ginny? You _knew_ he would!" Hermione stood up again and started pacing, Ginny's gaze followed her as she replied,

"Yes, I knew he neither could nor would take a dare from me! That's why I did it!"

"I don't get it, Gin. I told you how I felt about him! You weren't supposed to _act_ on that information, it was a _secret_!"

"I _know_, Hermione! Just listen! If I didn't think Charlie might've reciprocated those feelings, I would never have dared him to flirt with you!"

Hermione stopped mid-stride, her head snapping up so she could meet Ginny's gaze.

"Wait! What _was_ the dare, _ver batim_?"

"I dared Charlie to flirt with you a bit, and if you flirted back at all, he had to pantomine what you did back to me! I didn't think he would do it, or that Ron would get so bloody upset over _flirting_!"

"He didn't."

"Who didn't what?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Charlie didn't do the dare. He caught me during a lie-down and kissed me. I suppose he considered that adequate flirting since I was asleep. Ron didn't get upset because we were _flirting_, he got angry because we were _snogging_!" Hermione almost laughed at herself. _How_ did she manage to get into these messes? Boys, she told herself. Yes, guys usually had something to do with it.

"Wait, Charlie _snogged_ you?" Ginny asked, an incredulous look on her face.

"Yes, why?"

"It's just that...Charlie _never_ snogs! _Anyone!_ Not even _me! _Mum, occasionally on the cheek! Charlie is a very private, introverted person. He hates to draw attention to himself. Haven't you ever wondered why he ran off to Romania instead of playing pro quidditch?"

Hermione thought about it, and she had honestly never thought about Charlie's reasons for being a dragon keeper. She had always assumed he had a partiality for the animals, not unlike Hagrid. She spoke her thoughts aloud to Ginny. The girl thought about her opinion for a moment and replied,

"That's part of it, I suppose. But, he also likes the isolation. Charlie rarely draws attention to himself intentionally. He's always tried to work things out on his own." Ginny paused for breath and Hermione had a fleeting thought of Charlie alone in his room at the Three Broomsticks. She tuned back in the Ginny's voice as the younger girl added,

"So, if he came out of his shell enough to _snog_ you, the he must _like_ you! Or at least be interested enough to make a move. Did he sy anything when you confronted him?"

"No, but I didn't really give him the opportunity," Hermione replied slowly, sitting down again and putting her head in her hands. "That's not all of it, either..."

"You mean he did _more?!_" Ginny's eyes grew wide, "What _happened_, Hermione?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I went back to the Burrow to have a bath, because my head, neck and shoulders hurt so..."

"Oh, 'Mione, I'm so sorry..." Ginny started apologizing.

"It's all right, Gin. I feel better now, but I'm confused. I fell asleep in the tub, and an hour later I woke up to your mum shouting at Charlie."

"At Charlie? But..._why?!_"

"Apparently he snuck into the loo with me."

"He ... _snuck _... into... the ... loo ... _with you?!_"

"Yes, but why? There's another thing..."

"Oh, Merlin, what now?!"

"I talk in my sleep, Gin!!" Hermione almost shouted, throwing her hands in the air for added emphasis. She started pacing again.

"How in the world do you _know_ that?"

"My mum told me on one of my holidays that I spent with her and my dad. It's usually just mumbling, but apparently I'll answer direct questions when asked. That's how they found out about the wizarding war, and the horcrux hunt last summer, and why I had to modify their memories."

"This is all fascinating, 'Mione, but what does it have to do with Charlie?"

"Well, I was alseep when he came in, and I remember dreaming someone was rubbing my shoulders as my mum used to, and they were whispering questions in my ear that I'm confident I answered...I think it was Charlie, but I'm not sure, and now I don't know how much he knows!" Hermione plopped back down onto the bed, shaking her head at herself.

"We could always sneak some Veritaserum into his tea, then interrogate him," Ginny grinned, the mischevious twinkle back in her eyes. She realized something, and her face fell.

"I don't have any, though, and it takes a month to brew."

"That's all right. I've been told this works just as well," Hermione replied, pulling the bottle of firewisky out of her robes and transfiguring the amber-colored liquid into clear pure-grain alcohol, which greatly resembled water, and conjuring four plastic bottles out of thin air. She waved her wand lazily and the whiskey started pouring itself in equal amounts into the bottles in mid-air.

"When we go back in there, you'll need to act embarrassed and humbled, I'm supposed to be yelling at you," Hermione grinned as she explained. The caps of the four bottles twisted themselves on and Hermione started hiding them in Ginny's robes. "Offer refreshments, but say all you have is tea and water. If Draco or Charlie takes tea, pour some of this into it, they'll never know the difference, as it's flavorless."

"What about the other two bottles?" Ginny wondered aloud, "surely they aren't for ourselves?"

"Oh no, of course not," Hermione chuckled, "They're for Harry and Ron. I have a gut instinct they'll show up soon. Although I'm not sure how Harry is going to handle Draco being here."

"He'll just have to deal with it," Ginny replied in clipped tones, "Harry is the one who 'wanted a break' anyway! And what's with you and Draco calling each other by first names? I thought you hated each other?"

Hermione thought about this a few moments before replying, "I guess we grew out of it. Don't get me wrong, he's not my favorite person in the world, but he's not that bad either. Since Severus _is_ his godfather, we saw a lot of each other during my apprenticeship, and I suppose we got used to each other's company. Alright, that's the last bottle hidden. Are you ready to play your part?"

"I think so. So what are we calling this master plan of yours?" Ginny asked, heading for the bedroom door.

Hermione thought fora moment, grinned and replied,

"Operation: _Dutch Courage_."

**A/N**: dun dun dun...what does Hermione have up her sleeve? Hehe...and here's a bit of useless info compliments of the urban dictionary:

dutch courage

(n.) An alcoholic beverage had before an unpleasant task. The fact that britains' second empire and the Netherlands' first rose at the same time caused a great deal of tension between the two nations (though never real animosity like there was with France) and when they joined in temporary naval alliances they noted that dutch sailors took thier alcohol allowance just before battle, whereas the Royal Navymen drunk throughout the day.

Ex: I need some dutch courage before going down on that hairy, spotty bush!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Allright, here's part 6. I know, I know took me long enough. I was having a bad bout of stupid writer's block, and I finally made myself sit down tonight and type something out, so if it's total tripe, then blame my muse!!  
As always, I am not J.K. Rowling, all Harry Potter character's belong to her, blah blah blah and all that jazz. This fic is rated PG13 for some swearing and "adult situations", and I still think I'm going to stop at 10 chappies, but I haven't made a final decision yet. so, without further ado... 

Caught! part 6

Charlie Weasley was not a dumb man. Quite the contrary, to be honest. Growing up with five younger siblings and an older brother with a penchant for pulling pranks had made him very pereceptive, especially when it came to his little sister.

Hermione's widened eyes at the sight of the Malfoy kid didn't go unnoticed. He was also curious as to Draco's reasons for being at his sisters flat. (Sure, it was technically George's flat, but for all practical purposes Ginny lived there also). He had no reason to be rude the the young man, however, and he had found a willing partner to discuss quidditch while Hermione and Ginny had thier "conversation."

When Ginny and Hermione went into the bedroom to talk, he noticed the seemingly lack of noise coming from the other side of the door. _They've cast silencio on the door, wonder what they're talking about that's so secret?_ he thought to himself. He prompty pulled his wand from an inner pocket of his dragon-hide jacket and discreetly pointed it at Malfoy, who was going on about his opinion of the Winbourne Wasps. He muttered _distraho_, pointing the wand at the young man's forehead, and no more than a few minutes later, Malfoy started rambling incessantly about quidditch to George's mail owl, Risus, as if the owl was arguing him point for point.

Charlie used this opportunity to creep as quietly as he could to the door of what he assumed was Ginny's bedroom, pointed his wand at the knob and whispered _viva voce_. Nifty little trick, really, the same spell that Fred and George had used to charm the extendable ears. Charlie was banking on the idea that the girls hadn't made the door imperturbable, however, because that was the only silencing spell that _viva voce _couldn't seem to counteract. _Well, here goes nothing _he thought wryly to himself as he pointed his wand at the doorknob again and whispered _alohomora!_ The lock clicked audibly and Charlie grinned to himself.

Charlie cracked the door open a half inch, and his jaw almost dropped at the sight before him. Four bottles seemed to be filling themselves with water out of thin air, Ginny was leaned against the edge of the bed, a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione, herself, was sitting on the edge of the bed, her forehead resting in her hands, looking at the floor. The last thing he heard before Ginny looked up at the crack in the door frame was Hermione mumbling something about not knowing what to do. Ginny narrowed her eyes at the new space between the door and the jamb, before asking Hermione what she was on about.

Charlie listened intently to the plan Hermione had up her sleeve. _That little minx,_ he thought amusedly to himself, _she wants to get me pissed! Oh, I'll show her pissed! Dutch courage indeed._

* * *

Charlie crept back to the living room of the flat as quietly as he could, where Draco was still rambling incessantly to Risus about how shoddy the Cannons performance was. He chuckled to himself, he'd have to remember to lift the charm before Ginny came back in the room. But, first, a bit of business to take care of. He had figured out that what he had thought was water was indeed transfigured firewhisky, and he was impressed that Hermione could do that bit of magic, as it wasn't easy. He wasn't overly suprised, though, he had been told repeatedly for the better part of a decade that she was the brightest witch of her year. This time, however, she was to be outsmarted, by a dragon wrangler, no less.

He set about to rummaging through the cupboards, in search of something with some bite. He finally found a half full bottle of Ogden's that was quite dusty, and had had time to ferment. _Perfect_ he thought to himself, as he poured the contents into the teakettle, along with the tea that Ginny had put on to boil before he and Hermione had shown up at her door. _We'll see who gets pissed, you little minx._

He had barely had time to dash off a quick letter to Ron letting him know to avoid George's flat at all costs, for the sake of his sanity and Harry's happiness, (Charlie had also heard the bit about Draco's presence in the flat, and while he wasn't happy, it was his sister's life and he was willing to let her live it,) And mumble a quick _finite incantatem_ at Draco before the girls re-entered the room. Hermione took Ginny's former place on the sofa across from Charlie and Ginny went to the kitchen to see if the tea had steeped. When she entered to room again, she was carrying the tea service and two of the bottles of "water."

"I know you don't care much for tea, Charlie, so I brought you a bottle of water. We're apparently out of butterbeer." Ginny said, as meekly as she could. Charlie tried his hardest not to chuckle at her acting attempt, she was actually quite good.

"That's all right, Gin. Actually, tea sounds good, it's been quite a day." He responded smoothly, cutting his eyes at Hermione, who had one eyebrow cocked at him. _She's been spending too much time with the greasy git _he thought to himself, chuckling inwardly.

"All right, then, Charlie," Ginny replied, handing him one of the thin china mugs, "Hermione? Two lumps, right?" Ginny asked brightly, turning toward the other woman. Hermione's only response was a curt nod before taking the other mug from Ginny.

"Why so tense, Granger?" Draco asked, an amused grin plastered on his face. Hermione had a thought of how unusual a genuine grin on Malfoy's face really was. "Only one lump for me, love." Charlie tried to catch the young man's eye to let him know not to drink the tea, but gave it up as a bad attempt when Draco took a long pull from his own mug.

"That's good, love. Unusual. Did you do something different?" Draco asked, before taking another long drink of his tea.

"No, not that I know of," Ginny replied, narrowing her eyes at Charlie before smelling of her own tea and taking a small sip, "just the recipe my mother taught me. Which makes me wonder why Charlie is drinking it, he doesn't normally like mum's tea."

Charlie rested the edge of his cup against his closed lips for a few minutes, pretending to take a small sip, before setting his mug down on the tea service in front of him, "perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do, Gin."

"Perhaps," Ginny replied, also pretending to take a sip of her tea. She was no fool, and if Charlie Weasley wasn't willing to drink something set in front of him, neither was she. Something was amiss, and she'd be damned if she'd be too pissed to know what was going on around her.

"Well, _whatever _it is, it's pretty damn good." Hermione grinned at Ginny, "I _never _make tea good. Maybe it's because I'm muggle-born."

"Granger, did you just _swear?!_" Draco asked, semi-shocked. In the 9 years of their acquaintance, he had never heard so much as a _bloody_ _hell _come from Miss Prim-and-Proper Hermione Granger's mouth.

"Oh, screw you, Malfoy" Hermione replied, taking a long pull off her mug of tea and smacking her lips in a rather unladylike manner, "top me off, will you, Gin?"

"Sure, Hermione," Ginny replied, filling Hermione's tea mug up again and watching with barely contained interest and Hermione drained half of it in one drink. "Guess you were thirstier than you thought?"

"Yea, I suppose," Hermione replied, then giggled, "I am. Hungry too, I haven't hardly eaten all day. Just a crumpet at breakfast before work this morning. So glad that's over with," Hermione stated, glancing rather obviously at Draco "Tired of spending every day with that old greasy bat. Always leering at me, peering over my shoulder, trying to scare me or catch me doing something wrong. Stupid git, he owes me. Weren't for me, he'd be dead in the shrieking shack with a snake bite in his neck." Hermione giggled and refilled her mug with more tea before Charlie caught her hand in his,

"'Mione, I think you've had enough."

"It's just tea, Charlie. Mine's ok." She giggled while attempting to push his hand out of her way. He deftly picked up the tea service and took it back to the kitchen, Ginny following closely behind him, leaving a giggling Hermione and a stunned Draco in the den behind her.

"What the bloody hell did you do to that tea, Charlie?!" Ginny asked, pushing him up against the sea and pointing her wand at his chest.

"Only the same thing you did to mine, little sister," Charlie replied, trying his hardest not to laugh, "Although I'm suprised Hermione's alcohol tolerance is _that _low."

"Of course it is, Charlie, 'Mione _never _drinks, not even at special events. She doesn't even particularly like butterbeer. But you wouldn't know that, because you don't know _her_. Why couldn't you leave well enough alone?"

"Oh, and let you and that minx get me as pissed as she is now? I don't think so, there's no telling what I'd do. I should've just ignored you and your bloody dare."

"Speaking of my 'bloody dare', where do you get off snogging Hermione in the middle of a lie-down? You scared the poor girl! Now she's mad over Ron being the git that we all know he is, and she's freaking out over..., well..." Ginny caught herself mid-rant. She didn't want to divulge Hermione's secrets, but she also wanted to see her brother happy.

"She's freaking out over what, exactly, Ginevra?" Charlie replied, narrowing his eyes at the fiery redhead in front of him.

"Nothing, Charlie, nevermind. I can't tell you, it's not my secret to tell, and Hermione will when she's ready. And, since you're the one that got her pissed, you can be the one to sober her up before she goes home. You know mum will never forgive us if we bring her back to the burrow in the state she's in."

"Why can't she stay here?" Charlie asked, folding his arms, "and mum isn't expecting us back till the morning anyway. 'Mione told her we would be late coming back."

"Because George would have a fit, he's just now getting used to having other people around, a house full of people would probably freak him out. You know that. Isn't there anywhere else you can take her?"

"Well, I suppose I could take her to the Broomsticks. I had a room there earlier, I suppose I could get it again."

"Do that, then, before she runs off at the mouth some more. Her inhibitions are down and there are things that Draco doesn't need to know about unless she tells him in her right state of mind."

"Sure, I see what you mean. As in the bit about Snape? What was that about? And how did she get that apprenticeship anyway?"

"All valid questions that I refuse to answer. Ask her yourself, Charlie." Ginny tossed her hair at him before sticking her wand back into her brasseire, and headed back to the living room, and asking brightly of the other two,

"So, have you killed each other yet?"

"No, not _hic_ yet, Gin. I don't feel like hexing the prat today," Hermione giggled in response, looking at Draco, who had not moved since Hermione's outburst earlier. He shook his head breifly and smirked,

"Like you could hex me at the moment, Granger. You're pissed!"

"I am _not...hic...pissed!_" Hermione replied, attempting to pull her wand out of the inner pocket of her robes and stand up to face Draco, but only managed to stumble. Charlie reached out an arm and caught her mid-fall.

"No hexing the Malfoy kid, today, 'Mione."

"But I want to, Charlie! It's so much fun, he screams like a girl!" Hermione giggled as she attempted to stand up straight again, and again fell backwards into Charlie's chest.

"You'll have lots more opportunities. Let's get out of here," Charlie whispered into Hermione's ear, steadily leading her towards the door.

"Where are we going? I thought we were gonna stay here for a while?" Hermione giggled as she gave up standing as a bad job and leaned into Charlie.

"We were, but I think they want some alone time," Charlie grinned at Ginny and waggled his eyebrows, "and we're in the way. Lets go, beautiful." They were hardly on the sidewalk good before they apparated to the stretch of road in front of the Three Broomsticks.

* * *

Ten minutes later found Charlie and Hermione in the same room they had been in earlier, both sitting on the side of the bed, glancing bashfully at each other. Hermione cleared her throat and looked Charlie in his bright blue eyes,

"You called me beautiful."

"So I did."

"Oh, Charlie. I'm not beautiful. Not by a long shot." Hermione replied, looking down and blushing. Charlie reached down and lifted her fact towards his, holding her chin with his fingers. She noticed they felt like a fine-grit sandpaper.

"Who do you think you're kidding, 'Mione? You're one of the most beautiful young ladies I've ever seen. And you're smart, too. You deserve the world, not to be stuck in a dingy hotel room with an old fart like me."

"You're barely seven years older than me, Charlie. That hardly makes you an 'old fart'. And I think you're rather handsome yourself," she added, quietly, blushing a bright shade of red.

"Oh you do, do you? So what are we going to do about this, just go on finding the other attractive?" Charlie asked, one corner of his mouth twitching, he wanted desperately to laugh at this silly woman, but he knew it would embarass her more than she already was.

"I don't know about you, but I was thinking something along the lines of..."

Charlie was caught by suprise as her hands flew around his neck and her lips were pressed against his. She flicked her tongue against his lower lip, causing him to open his mouth in suprise, and allowing her entrance. As their tongues battled for control, he wrapped his arms around her small frame and lay her down on the bed. He pulled back for a minute to look at her, her mouth open, lips slightly swollen, and her eyes closed. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen a woman more beautiful than she was to him at the moment.

"'Mione, are you sure you want to do this?"

His only answer was a soft snore.

* * *

Love it? Hate it? Wanna throw tomatoes at me? You know what to do, hit that little button that says "go"! 


	7. Chapter 7

**Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's plots or characters, but if Ms. Rowling wanted to send Charlie my way, I'd gladly take him!**

**A/N: **Well, here's the next part, I'm sorry it took so long to update. Fair warning for most of the story, this is DH friendly, so if you haven't read it yet, WHY ARE YOU READING FANFIC?!! GO READ DEATHLY HALLOWS RIGHT NOW!! Ok, now that that's out of the way, I just wanted to note a comment in a review that Hermione and Charlie's relationship seems to be going kind of fast. Not all relationships are awkward and slow, my own included. I had only known my husband for less than a year and been dating for a couple of months when we first got engaged. I'm a big beleiver in log engagements, however, so we got to know each other before taking the plunge. So, without further ado...

Caught! Part 7/?

Hermione woke to a pounding head and stiff joints the next morning. She groaned and snuggled down further into the covers, only to have her eyes snap open a few minutes later. She risked a peek under the duvet that was definitely not on her own cot at the burrow, and almost gasped when she saw two large, brown, calloused, freckled hands wrapped around her midsection. She took note that she was, thankfully, still dressed.

Her head throbbed again as she attempted to roll over to identify the person in her (no… not her, possibly _their_) bed. She gasped audibly when she came nose to nose with a sleeping Charlie Weasley.

"Charlie…" She whispered, trying to wake him up gently.

"Hrmph?" he grunted in his sleep, wrinkling his nose when she used one of her long curls to brush over his face.

"Charlie… wake up!" she stated a little louder, noticing her mouth had become extremely dry throughout the night.

"Few more minutes." he grumbled as he flopped over, stealing most of the duvet, and releasing her in the process.

* * *

Charlie woke to the sound of the shower running, wondering who on earth was in his bathroom. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, and started when he saw that he was in a room at the Three Broomsticks, not in his tent in Romania. He groaned as the events of the previous evening came back to him. He reached for the denims he had left abandoned on the floor before climbing into bed the night before, and rummaged in the pocket until his hand closed around his miniaturized trunk. He set the trunk on the floor, pointed his wand and silently cast _engorgio_. He had had the thought of staying at the Broomsticks through the rest of his holiday, to avoid any more embarrassing conversations such as the one had had with his mum the day before. Charlie rummaged through his trunk and pulled out two sets of clothes and a vial of hangover potion he had handy.

* * *

Hermione turned the stream of hot water off and stepped out of the shower into the now steamy bathroom and proceeded to wrap her hair in the now damp towel, preferring to dry her hair the muggle way as opposed to a drying charm as it seemed to be less bushy afterward. She cast a quick _scourgify_ on her mouth before poking her head out the door.

"Charlie? Are you awake yet?"

"Yes, what's up?" he grunted in reply, looking up from lacing his boot. She couldn't help but take in the spattering of dark red hair across his broad chest, her eyebrows rising when she noticed something red swish lazily across his stomach. It only her took her a few minutes to figure out it was the tail of the tattoo he must have on his back. She blushed a bit at the thought of touching it and shivered imperceptibly. When Charlie cleared his throat, she shook her head a bit before asking,

"Do you have some clothes I could borrow? Mine smell a bit, seeing as I got some potion all over them yesterday morning."

"Oh yes, _sahib_," he grinned at her towel turban as he handed her his extra set of denims, an old quidditch jersey, and a pair of socks that looked as if they could fit Hagrid easily. "Erm..You may want to shrink them first, though."

"Very funny. You don't happen to have a hairbrush, do you?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes at his joke.

"I'm not sure, really. I just threw some things in…" he replied, gesturing toward his trunk.

"Well, there's one easy way to find out. _Accio hairbrush!_" Hermione replied, flicking her hand and grabbing the comb that came flying toward her head out of midair. As soon as she caught the comb, she squished her eyes shut tightly for a moment and the comb suddenly turned itself into a wooden hairbrush. When she opened her eyes again she was looking into Charlie's wide, started blue eyes.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! How in Merlin's name did you learn to do wandless magic?!"

"Snape taught me, if you must know," she replied, grinning a bit.

"Oh. Why?" Charlie inquired, intrigued. Perhaps he was going to sate his curiosity about her involvement with the potions master.

"Summoning charms come in handy working with potions, you don't have to leave a boiling cauldron if you summon the ingredients to yourself, " she explained in a monotone voice, as if reciting a lesson. Charlie nodded, this made sense to him.

"So, if one hand is stirring and the other is putting ingredients into your potion, there's no room for a wand. Hence, the need for wandless magic. It's hard to do, takes a bit of magical energy, and my wand has to be relatively close to do it though."

"I can see the use for summoning," Charlie acceded, "but transfiguration? Isn't that a bit harder to do than a charm?"

"A bit, but like most things, it just takes practice." Hermione replied, unwinding her now damp hair from her towel, "Why all the sudden curiosity, anyway?"

"Hermione, we need to have a talk." Charlie replied, patting a space next to him on the bed. Hermione sat down next to him and looked at him curiously.

"What about?" she asked as she sat down next to him and proceeded to pull the brush through her damp curls.

"Here, let me do that," Charlie said gently, taking the brush from her and turning her body away from him, so that he was facing the back of her head. He knew instinctively that she would talk more candidly if she wasn't looking him in the eyes. He started to gently pull the brush through her curls. He inhaled the smell of her shampoo and repressed a groan. He was a sucker for nice smells, spending most of his day amidst the smells of smoke, sulphur and dragon dung.

"You're pretty good at this," Hermione sighed, tilting her head back a bit as he struggled with a small knot.

"As you said, practice makes perfect," Charlie grinned, "I used to brush Ginny's hair a lot, mum was always too busy chasing the twins."

"Oh. So what did you want to talk about?" Hermione asked, fidgeting with the hem of his jersey. He noticed that she has left it it's original size, even though she had shrunk the rest of the clothes he had lent her.

"Well, how do you feel? Tired? Headache?"

"All right, I guess, I had a bit of a headache and was stiff this morning, but my shower seemed to take care of that. Why am I here, anyway?" She replied, shrugging her shoulders a bit. He silently banished the hangover potions back into his trunk for future use.

"You were a bit incapacitated last night. I brought you here so mum wouldn't interrogate us."

"I see," Hermione replied, turning to face him "You didn't want to get in trouble. What was wrong with me?"

"'Mione, how much of last night do you remember?"

"Please don't call me that. Not much, to be honest, which is unusual. The last I remember is Ginny making tea, and it was really good. Apparently you're mum's recipe? It's always so good, my mum's tea never tastes that good, must be a witch thing. Every time I ask her about it, she tells me something about an old family recipe…" Hermione rambled on as she threw her hair into a ponytail using one of Charlie's leather hair ties.

"It's firewhiskey," Charlie replied, a bit sheepishly.

"Wait, what?!"

"The tea is laced with firewhiskey. Why did you think the family gets so loud and rambunctious over dinner? Mum's secret is Ogden's Finest, which is what I spiked your tea with yesterday. I didn't expect your alcohol tolerance to be so low, and your were thoroughly pissed after a couple cuppas. I didn't trust you to not splinch yourself, so I brought you here, and you passed out. That's about it…" Charlie held a worried breath as she stared him down, wondering if he should tell her about her drunken snog. He was still debating including that info when she mumbled quietly,

"You called me beautiful."

"I…what? You remember that?" He stuttered, the tops of his ears turning a vibrant red.

"Yes, then you brought me here, and I…oh…my…I'm so sorry!" she gasped, bringing a small hand to her lips, eyes widening.

"What are you sorry for? What did you do that was wrong?" he grinned, grabbing her hand and holding in his large calloused one. She shivered a bit when he gently ran his thumb over her knuckles.

"But….I…Ron…" Hermione stuttered in reply, her thoughts scattered to the four winds with the small gesture of affection.

"Apparently has a crush on a Miss Lovegood, and will most likely be eating a bit of humble pie today. Other than Ron's reaction, do you have any objections to this?" he asked, gesturing with is free hand between the two of them.

"Well, school. I got to University soon, and you're going back to Romania. Do you think we could handle the distance?" she asked, looking up and meeting his eyes.

"Hermione, aren't we a witch and wizard? We can both apparate. I can floo home every weekend, or I can give you the address of the Reserve and you can come to me any time you want. I'm willing to make this work if you are." Charlie studied her caramel eyes, wishing he were a legilimens. He realized he didn't need to read her thoughts when she leaned into him and whispered "Then snog me already."

Charlie couldn't help but grin as he gathered her into his arms and pressed her lips gently against hers in a chaste kiss, not wanting to push her too far too fast. He smiled against her mouth as she snaked her arms around his neck and twined her fingers into his hair. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip, asking for entrance, which she readily gave. As their tongues performed a hot, sensual, languid dance, she ran her hands across the expanse of his shoulders and down his arms, causing gooseflesh to rise. He laid her back onto the bed and pulled away, grinning. Her eyes were a bit glazed over and smiled softly back at him. He wanted to make absolutely sure.

"Hermione, do you want to be with me? I'm possessive and jealous. I don't play nice and I don't share."

"Neither do I," she replied, pulling him down to her for another kiss. As his hand started to wander up the tail of his old jersey, which had become hers in the course of the morning, there was a firm knock on the door.

_Son of a…_ Charlie checked himself, knowing Hermione wouldn't like it if he swore. He sat up before muttering a gruff "Who is it?"

"I'm looking for Miss Granger," came a masculine voice from the other side of the door. "I was informed by Miss Weasley she could be found here."

Charlie looked questioningly at Hermione, who shrugged, a confused look on her face. Who in the world would come looking for her here? Charlie threw the door open to the glittering black eyes of Severus Snape.

**A/N: **I know, I'm horrible about the cliffies, I couldn't help it. And I know where I want to go from here, so I promise the next update won't take nearly as long. I fed the muse Caffeine and chocolate, so she's happy again. I live for reviews, so please push the button below and let me know if you loved it, hated it, thought it "meh...", anything! I respond to all reviews.

**Preview for part 8:** Ron, Harry and Hermione have a talk, Luna comes to vist the Burrow, and we find out why Severus is looking for Hermione.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **So, here it is, finally. Sorry it took so long to update, but it's been a busy month! I'm not sure how fast I can get to Ch 9, but it shouldn't take as long as getting this one up did. So, without further ado...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Harry Potter characters, although if J.K. Rowling wanted to send Charlie my way, I woulnd't complain, although my husband might...lol.

Good morning, Miss Granger. I apologize for the early intrusion, but I was wondering if I might have a word with you?" Severus Snape inquired in a smooth tone, as if finding his young protégé in strange hotel rooms was a common occurrence.

"Sure, professor. Are you hungry? We haven't had breakfast yet, so perhaps we can continue this discussion downstairs?"

"I would not be adverse to accompanying you and your...companion, although I've already eaten with the other staff," he replied, offering her his elbow in a gentlemanly fashion. She linked her hand into the crook of his elbow without a second thought, as if strolling with the potions master was a common practice. Hermione threw a questioning gaze over her shoulder at Charlie, who was still sitting on the bed, dumbfounded at his former professors appearance. Charlie shrugged slightly and rose to follow them to breakfast, pulling a knitted jumper over his head as he went.

Hermione and Severus were halfway down the stairs when he turned to her and asked in a low tone, "I was under the impression you were dating _Ronald_ Weasley, not _Charles." _

A blush covered Hermione's cheeks as she replied in what she believed to be an even tone, "Ron and I broke up last week. We had a...disagreement, if you will. Charlie and I are just friends." _for the moment, _her subconscious supplied. 

"Your garments would suggest otherwise, Hermione, unless you joined the quidditch team at some point during your Hogwarts career. Even if you had, I'm fairly confident you never legally changed your last name to Weasley. Not yet, anyway." he smirked as he watched her face turned at least another three shades of red after looking down and realizing she was, indeed, wearing Charlie's Gryffindor jersey.

"I'll drop it for now, Hermione," Severus smirked as he pulled a chair out for her then seating himself and ordering coffee from an elf that suddenly appeared at his side, "since your paramour is headed this way. But this conversation is far from over."

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at her professor turned mentor as she ordered a cup of tea and an assortment of fruit, while motioning for Charlie to take a seat next to her at the rickety table.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Sev?"

Charlie started at Hermione's familiarity with the professor, which in turn made him even more curious about their past. He would have to interrogate her, and soon.

"As you know, there's a big potions conference in Ontario next week, starting Monday..."

"Oh yes! I remember reading a bit about it in an _Potions Today_"

"Yes, well, I've been asked to lead a panel on advances made on the Wolfsbane potions, and I'm inclined to accept the invitation."

"Oh, Sev, that's wonderful!" Hermione replied, beaming at him. Her grin suddenly became a serious expression, "What about my work? Or the medicinal stores?"

"Taken care of. I've got Poppy more than stocked up, being summer holiday, and all of your current projects are under stasis charms, which shouldn't harm those particular potions. Since I prefer you to not be in my lab unaccompanied, I've informed the headmistress you will be doing independent study this week, so you will still receive your stipend. I'm giving you leave to take the week off. I'm sure you can find some other way to..._occupy_ your time." he smirked, cutting his eyes at Charlie. "I'll leave you the floo address to my hotel room in Ontario should an emergency arise. One more thing, Hermione..."

"Yes, Severus?"

"Do try to have some fun, we all deserve to sometime."

Hermione gave the potions master a small nod and smile before replying, "The same to you, Severus."

Severus quirked an eyebrow at her before taking his leave, his robes billowing around him a she apparated to only he knew where.

* * *

Charlie was almost speechless. Since when did Professor Snape wish anyone to have _fun_? His curiosity was killing him, and if he wanted to have any kind of working relationship with Hermione, he figured he ought to know something of her past.

"All right, Kitten, 'fess up."

"Whatever do you mean, Charlie?" Hermione asked, her top teeth starting to worry her bottom lip.

"You know what I mean, Hermione," Charlie replied, taking her hand in his gently, "Is there something going on between you and Professor Snape?"

"Something... Going... _Charlie!_ Of course not! Why in Merlin's name would you suggest such a thing? He's old enough to be my _father!" _

"Can you blame me, Hermione? Most people don't address their teachers so informally." 

"I realize that, Charlie, but it's a long story."

"I figured as much. We've got plenty of time for you to enlighten me." Charlie replied, leaning his chair back onto it's hind legs and propping his boot-covered feet onto the chair next to him. "I'm all ears." he grinned as he laced his fingers behind his head.

* * *

_After the final battle was over and done with, Harry upstairs sleeping the day away, and Ron sitting comfortably at the Gryffindor table with his family, Hermione found Madame Pompfrey in a room off the side of the entrance hall, tending to the wounded. _

"Can I be of any help, Madame Pompfrey? I know a few minor healing spells, just tell me where to start."

"Actually, Miss Granger, am I correct in assuming you know how to get into Professor Snape's stores?"

"I thought Professor Slughorn took over the Potions position? Wouldn't they be his stores now?"

"I meant Professor Snape's private stores, where he keeps the N.E.W.T. level potions ingredients, since he prefers to teach the advanced classes himself. Professor Slughorn prefers to use the supply closet in the potions classroom. Either way, we're running dangerously low on healing potions, and I'm wondering if he didn't have any backup stores available."

"I see," Hermione replied sadly, "I don't think I should have any problems with that." She knew that Snape was with them no longer, and when a wizard went on to the other side, any active spells they might have had going were rendered null. She didn't expect to encounter any wards on his stores, unless someone had put new ones up in the past hour or so, which she highly doubted.

Hermione walked briskly toward the dungeons, barely noticing the wreckage of the grand entrance hall around her, helping the injured find some relief at the forefront of her thoughts. When she reached a thick wooden door that she recognized at the potion master's supply closet (At least it was when she swiped polyjuice potion ingredients in her second year), she reached for the door knob and gasped as she was thrown backward unceremoniously and fell with her back against the opposite wall of the corridor.

"How in Merlin's name..." she mumbled to herself and she waved her wand at the door, silently revealing the traces of the wards on the door. She gasped as the colors of several different protective wards swirled in front of her, quite a few located near the knob. She knew that could mean one of two things...either some one wanted to protect the potions stores for themselves...or professor Snape was still alive. Her curiosity won out, she had to know.

Hermione made short order of the wards on the door, and helped herself to all of the medicinal potions present to give to Madame Pompfrey, and because she had a hunch, she found a small vial of antivenin, and some blood replenisher. She had initially thought something odd about the way Professor Snape dying from a snake bite so quickly, even from a magical creature such as Nagini. However, she had had little time to think of it in the rush of battle, until now.

She hurried back to the temporary sick room, and gave the Madame the potions she had found, and explained in a hurried voice she had something to take care of before running through the castle doors towards the main gate, to apparate to the Shrieking Shack.

She found him there, lying exactly where Harry had left him, definitely looking good and dead. Knowing magical theory was rarely wrong, Hermione kneeled down next to him and tentatively wrapped two fingers around his thin, pale wriest, and gasped when she felt a light pulse. Switching into healer mode, she conjured a pillow from thin air and propped his head up on it, pouring a few drops of the antivenin into the gash in his neck. It sizzled and smoked for a few minutes, and she pointed her wand at the cut, chanting in a sing-song way, stitched the skin together. She ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt, wet it down with a water charm and cleaned the dried blood off of his face and neck. She knew he was suffering from a large loss of blood, so she poured the entire contents of the bottle of blood replenisher into his mouth, massaging his throat to physically make him swallow. She glanced at the lone bed in the shack and grimaced at the dust that had collected on it over the years. It would have to do, he was in too bad of shape to attempt to hover him to Hogwarts, or to attemp apparating him to St. Mungo's.

She cast a quick scourgify on the bed, smiling slightly at the now clean bed, and mobilicorpused his body onto it, and charmed the covers to tuck themselves around him. "Well, it's now or never" she mumbled as she pointed her wand at his head and said quietly, "Ennervate."

A few seconds later, Snape's eyes started twitching, and slowly fluttered open, his pupils dilating quickly at the burst of sudden light. He looked around him slowly before croaking out in a low voice,

"Aw, shite, I've died and gone to the seventh level of Hell, and it's in the form of the bloody werewolf's mangy den. I'll probably be bunking with him for eternity."

Hermione snorted. She had intended to sneak out quietly, but she couldn't help herself. Snape's wry humor had never particularly bothered her. After the comment about her teeth, she had had a stern talking to with herself about not taking others comments seriously. Henceforth, no insult could seem to have any particular affect on her, and she found humor in situations she would have previously found mortifying, such as the irony of Tom Riddle having the nerve to call anyone "mudblood."

"You're not dead, Professor, and I'm a bit surprised to find you familiar with Dante."

"Holy hell, Miss Granger!" Snape shouted, almost jumping out of the bed, the charmed blankets the only thing holding him in place, "What are you doing here? Why are you alone, where are Potter and Weasley? What do you mean, I'm not dead? Where's the Dark Lord?"

"Calm down, Professor!" Hermione said firmly, "You don't need to get worked up, you are extremely weak as it is. As for your questions, I'll answer them in due time, just know that we are safe for now. I would suggest you attempt to get some sleep while I try to scrounge up some food."

"You mean I'm not dead..." Severus started to rise again. Hermione physically pushed his chest down, causing his head to flop down onto the pillow.

"No, you're quite alive, although very weak, as I stated. Now, get some rest, you certainly deserve it. I'll explain everything when you're back up to snuff, all right?"

"All right...but...That means you've saved my life, Miss Granger."

Hermione couldn't help but grin back at him "I suppose I have."

"I'm indebted to you now. That's just wonderful..." he mumbled as he fell back into a deep sleep. Hermione called for Kreacher, who popped right up at her side, making her jump a bit. She timidly inquired after Harry.

"Master sleeps miss. Master is very tired after fighting the bad mans miss. What can Kreacher do for miss?"

"Could you possibly get us some food, Kreacher?" Hermione asked politely, "This man is very ill and needs some nourishment."

Kreacher glanced at the sleeping form and his eyes grew large. "Kreacher has seen this man miss...in my mistress's house! He wrecked Master Sirius's room! Miss wants Kreacher to help him? Kreacher must do what miss says, masters orders.." he mumbled as he popped away, back to the Hogwarts kitchens to gather some soup and sandwiches.

Hermione's eyebrows raised at the comment of Snape's being in Grimmauld place and shrugged it off as Harry's business, it could wait until later. For now, she had a patient to care for, and a supposed life debt to ask about.  


So tell me what you think...I'm not going to beg for reviews, but I love to hear what people think, and I try to respond to all personally.


	9. Chapter 9

**disclaimer: Nothing you see here belongs to me, except the plot. Although, if J.K. Rowling wanted to send Charlie my way I would certainly not complain. He could even bring one of his dragons.**

**A/N: I'm baaaaaack! I'm so so so so sorry it took so long to get this up, but real life has been a pain in the arse lately. I've managed to get out a couple of one-shots (one is posted here, it's a blaise/hermione..check it out stops pimping) and I'm working on a charlie/hermione prompt table that I should have finished ages ago. Argh, my brain hurts. I'm thinking two, maybe three chapters after this one. I'm not that fond of this chapter, it was really hard to write, because my muse decided I was getting too much sleep and not enough chocolate and caffeine. I wrote the majority of it on a weekend at my in-laws, because I was determined to be anti-social.**

**This chappie is dedicated to snipe-g, who wanted some more charlie/hermione action. I promise I'm getting there.**

**Caught! Chapter 9**

****

Hermione stared down at her folded hands as she finished her story. She took a deep breath, willing the courage to look up, where she met Charlie's suprised gaze.

Charlie was no longer leaning back in his rickety chair, but rather staring fixedly at her, chin resting in his hands, elbows on the table. He couldn't help his incredulous tone.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! Does anyone else know about this?"

Hermione sighed again, knowing she shouldn't be suprised at Charlie's shock. The man really didn't know much about her, and vise versa. This was something they would have to remedy soon, she thought to herself.

"Only Madame Pomfrey and Headmistress McGonogall, and they only know because he needed immediate medical attention I couldn't afford to give him on my own."

"So that's why 'ol Snapey is so nice to you. You saved his life." Charlie replied, grinning at her. He couldn't quite believe how amazing this woman was turning out to be, and she was interested in him, of all blokes!

"Something like that," Hermione mumbled in reply, blushing. "I just had a hunch. I realize now I was putting myself in danger. That was before we knew where his loyalties lay. I shouldn't have gone there alone."

Charlie couldn't believe she would doubt herself like this, and let her know by replying vehemently,

"Bollocks! You're a bloody hero, and don't you dare let anyone tell you differently!"

"Do you think so? I don't feel very heroic..." Hermione mumbled, so quietly Charlie had to strain to hear her. He reached out and placed his forefinger under her chin, causing her to raise her head and look him in the eye, then gently cupping her cheek in his large, slightly rough hand. Remembering Ginny's words, she gasped a bit at the affectionate gesture, and she held his gaze as he replied,

"I don't think so, I know so."

This statement was followed by an awkward silence that was only broken by Madame Rosemerta sking if they needed anything else. Charlie replied in the negative and asked the matron to add their meal to his room tab, as he stood and pushed his chair in. Hermione followed his lead, studying him carefully. Seeming to come to a conclusion, she looked into his eyes and asked a bit timidly,

"Charlie?" He turned to face her before replying softly,

"Yes, Kitten?"

"Can you take me somewhere?"

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, tucking her hand into his elbow the way he had seen the potions master do. He had to consciously shorten his stride in order for her to keep up with him.

"I don't care. Somewhere we can be alone, with no interruptions. I'm getting tired of getting caught."

"I know the perfect place, but we need to go to the Burrow first."

"If you insist..." Hermione sighed in response.

"I do. I don't want mum to worry, and you and Ron really should have a heart to heart." Charlie replied with a cheeky grin as he led her into an alleyway and apparated both of them to his parents' home.

"Anyone home?" Charlie yelled out from the kitchen door of the Burrow.

"There you are, dears! I was starting to worry!" Molly exclaimed, throwing an arm around each of their necks and squeezing with all her might.

"Oi, mum, we need to breathe!" Charlie laughed as he loosened her grip on Hermione's neck to take the full brunt of her affections. "We were only gone one night!"

"I know, Charlie dear, but as your mum I'm allowed to worry at all times." Molly chuckled in return.

"Mrs. Weasley, is Ron home?" Hermione asked as soon as she got her breath back.

"Oh, yes, dear, he's upstairs with Harry and Luna. Go on up while I talk to Charlie. I'll have lunch ready in a couple hours."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasly," Hermione replied, grinning and shaking her head to herself as she headed up the stairs to Ron's bedroom.

* * *

When Hermione reached the doorway to Ron's room, she found him sprawled across his bed, one arm flung lazily around an obviously sleeping Luna's shoulders, and holding a quidditch magazine up to read with the other. Harry sat in the floor, his back to Ron's bed, lazily leafing through another quidditch magazine. Both heads flew up at the sound of Hermione's light knock on the doorframe.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" She supressed her giggles as Ron tried to jump up without waking Luna.

"'Mione! Come on in, sit down. We were wondering where you went...erm...this isn't what it looks like..." Ron attempted to explain, steadily trying to move his arm from under Luna's dead weight.

"I'd say it's exactly what it looks like," Hermione replied, the corners of her mouth twitching, "And you gave me a hard time about Charlie..."

"I'm sorry, 'Mione, I didn't know about...What I mean to say is..." Ron started, again trying fruitlessly to move the blonde off his shoulder.

"It's all right, Ronald, we needed to talk anyway."

"Do you want me to leave?" Harry asked quietly, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen, starting to close his magazine.

"No, you don't have to leave if you don't want to," Hermione told him. She took a deep breath before continuing, "You guys are my best friends, you know that, right?"

"Of course, 'Mione," replied Ron, "You're like family to us."

"Right, Ron, and I think of both of you as brothers, and I want you both to be happy," Hermione replied, letting out a relieved sigh. Ron didn't miss the twinkle in her eye, or the meaning behind her words.

"I want you to be happy, too, 'Mione. I'm sorry I yelled earlier, and if you think you'll be happy with Charlie, then I don't have a problem with you and him together."

Hermione hugged Ron's neck as hard as she could without disturbing the sleeping blonde.

"I hope you're happy, too, Ron. I think you and Luna make a lovely couple." She grinned as she pecked the girl softly on the cheek, before doing the same to both boys. She smiled at them from the doorway before continuing, "I'm so happy to call you two brothers. I'm headed out, Charlie and I are going away for the week."

"Oh, really? What about your potions stuff?" Harry asked, curious.

"Sev decided to have a random fit of kindness and gave the week off for 'independent study' while he's in Canada. Charlie and I decided to sneak off." she replied with a grin before heading down the stairs back to the kitchen.

As soon as Hermione was out of earshot, Luna opened her light blue eyes and looked up at Ron before saying in a wistful voice, "That was very mature of you, Ronald." She leaned her head up and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek. He gave her a cheeky grin before turning and kissing her softly and replying,

"I hope they have some fun." He picked his magazine back up and placed a feather light kiss on the top of Luna's head as she settled back onto his shoulder, "but knowing Hermione, she'll use the time off to actually study."

Harry only snorted into his own magazine. He had seen the covert glances Charlie had been casting at his curly haired friend. He was pretty sure Charlie wasn't planning on studying anything but Hermione's lips. He hoped Charlie wouldn't hurt Hermione, or he'd find himself on the business end of Harry's wand.

* * *

"Did you and Hermione have a nice time?" Molly asked as she placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her second son. She sat across the table and looked at him expectantly, the twitch of a smile on her lips.

"Yes, we did, mum," Charlie replied shortly, before taking a large gulp of his drink, noticing the slight burn in the back of his throat. Of course, the "family recipe." He set the cup down with a 'clink' and folded his arms on the table in front of him, ready for the barrage of questions he knew was coming her way. Molly suprised him, however. She set her own cup back onto it's saucer before looking him straight in the eye and asking softly,

"You really care for her, don't you?"

Charlie was slightly taken aback. He wasn't sure how to respond, he had been building up an argument in his head because he had expected to be attacked with questions about where they had spent the night, and having the differences in their ages and lives pointed out to him. He wasn't prepared for such a gentle straightforward question such as this. He didn't know the answer, and it disconcerted him. Merlin, _did_ he care for Hermione? He was still lost in thought when he heard his mum clear her throat.

"You don't have to answer, Charlie, I can see it in your eyes." Molly replied, softly, standing and walking around the table to stand behind him, her hands on his broad shoulders. "I know you don't believe me, dear, but someday you'll realize I'm right." Molly squeezed his shoulders gently before leaning down to place a feathery kiss on his cheek, before heading into the kitchen to start cooking lunch. She spoke over her shoulder as she started clanging pots and pans about.

"Did Professor Snape find Hermione this morning? He came here looking for her, and I sent him to George's flat." She asked him, genuinely curious. Hermione and Severus had struck up the oddest friendship she had ever seen in her life, and his personality change was certainly for the better. She knew there was more to the story, but as a mum she knew that if she pushed for information from the girl, she would stubbornly refuse to give it to her, so she was content to bide her time until one of the other let her know what had happened, although she had her suspicions.

"Yes, he went to breakfast with us. Apparently he's going to speak at a conference in Ontario next week and wanted to let Hermione know she had the week off for, um, 'independent study'" He replied, making quotation marks with his fingers, "She asked me to take her somewhere..." he trailed off, his voice a bit lower. Molly, however, had ears like a cat after raising seven children.

"Where are you going to take her, then?" She asked, grinning a bit while stirring a pot of fragrant onion soup, knowing Arthur would be home soon for lunch, and that was his favorite.

"I thought I would take her to Bucharest..." Charlie started, blushing a bit, "I caught her reading a muggle book a while back...it was called Count Dracula. I thought I'd introduce her." Molly's head shot up at this, and noted the slight stain on Charlie's cheeks. She shook her head, before replying in a stern voice,

"You know perfectly well Mr. Dracula doesn't really care for company," she shook her finger a bit at him, "However, I know that he's been anxious to get his hands on a copy of that muggle book, so he can find out if it's hogwash or not. I won't tell you not to go, Charlie, but keep in mind Vlad is an old man, even by wizarding standards, and when Nicholas Flamel stopped sending him the elixer of life, he started getting weaker. Go easy on him."

"I will, mum," Charlie grinned at her, before falling serious again, "so, do we have your blessing?" His mother's approval meant a lot to Charlie. Molly smiled softly at him, before walking over and cupping his face in both of her warm hands and kissed both cheeks, tears in her eyes, before replying,

"Of course you do. I've only ever wanted you to be happy. Does she make you happy, Charlie?"

"Yes, mum, she does." He replied, hugging her in return and burying his head onto her shoulder. _I'll never be too big or too old for a hug from my mum_, he thought to himself as he followed her into the kitchen to help her prepare lunch.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The long-awaited chapter 10 is finally here! As usual, sorry it took so long, but I've had a lot of issues to deal with later, and a mad case of writer's block,not only with my fanfic, but my original fic as well. I'm finally starting to get back in the groove. This one is looking to be twelve chapters total, mostly to tie up some loose ends. There isn't much Hermione/Charlie action in this one, but several questions get answered, but not all!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, they all belong to the inimatable J.K. Rowling. They are her toys, I'm just playing with them for a little while. No money is made from this, if there were, I wouldn't have to talk to bill collectors so much.**

Hermione stood at the foot of the stairs, watching Charlie hug his mum, not wanting to interrupt the sweet domestic scene. After a few moments, the two broke apart and Charlie sat back down at the table and Molly went back to her soup. Hermione cleared her throat slightly to get Charlie's attention. At the noise, Charlie looked up and smiled at the slender brown-haired woman standing with a rucksack thrown over her shoulder.

"I'm ready if you are…" Hermione trailed off, as Charlie stood to greet her. She was struck with the height and breadth of the dragon tamer as he held out his arm to take her bag from her.

"I can carry that, if you'd like me to?" Charlie grinned sheepishly, the tips of his ears turning red as she replied quietly,

"Oh, no, it's all right. Thank you, it's just that it has to be carried a certain way or the handle falls out…" Hermione explained, stopping herself, then blushing as she realized she was rambling. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Charlie grinned in response, dimples popping out on his cheeks before replying in a mischievous tone, "That's for me to know and you to find out." As he grabbed her hand in one of his and a handful of floo powder in the other, shouting out "Department of Magical Transportation!"

A few minutes later, Charlie and Hermione stumbled out of the grate at the transportation department at the Ministry of Magic.

"Never have quite gotten the hang of floo travel…" Charlie chuckled as he cleaned them both of soot with his wand. "From here we'll have to take a portkey to Paris, then to our destination. It'll take a few moments to arrange, do you want to go with me or wait here?" He asked as motioned toward a line of plastic seats that reminded Hermione of a muggle airplane terminal waiting area.

"No, go ahead, I'll wait for you here. What's our final destination?" Charlie opened his mouth to answer, then snapped his jaw shut, smiling in a secretive way before replying, "Nah uh uh, no fair using big words on the dumb wrangler…"

Hermione opened her mouth to argue that Charlie was far from dumb when he grinned and tapped the tip of her nose with his forefinger before turning and walking towards the desk, where a bored looking receptionist sat. It took Hermione a minute to realize Charlie had been teasing her, then she giggled internally at herself. Her natural curiosity was eating away at her, and it was killing her not knowing where they headed, but she didn't want to ruin Charlie's surprise, either. She wisely decided that she wouldn't ask him any more questions, but rather get to know the man behind the burns and freckles.

Charlie spoke for a few minutes with the receptionist, then signed his name to a clipboard on the desk before making his way back to Hermione.

"It'll be about an hour before the next portkey to Paris, so we've a bit of time to kill. Do you want or need to do anything in the meantime?"

"Not really, all I needed was clothes, and I don't have anyone I need to inform that I'm leaving, as your mum and Harry both know already. Let's just sit here and talk."

"Talk, alright, then," Charlie racked his brain for any subject not relating to dragons that he thought the pretty girl sitting next to him would be interested in, coming up short before asking, "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well…" Hermione began, blushing a bit, a light dusting of pink across her cheeks, "I thought we might get to know each other a bit better…"

"I think that's a spanking idea." Charlie replied, grinning, thinking he would like to spank her pert little bum. Now, where did _that_ thought come from, Charlie thought to himself, mentally slapping himself in the forehead.

"You do? How about a question game? You know, I ask a question, you answer, you ask, I answer, and so forth." Hermione suggested, turning in her seat and folding one leg under the other knee so she could look directly into Charlie's cerulean eyes.

"Sounds good to me. You ask first."

"All right, so, a question. What's your favorite color?" Hermione asked, internally groaning at herself. How much more mundane could she get?

"Red and gold, typical Gryffindor colors. What's your middle name?"

"It's Jean, my mum's name." Hermione replied, smiling sadly at the thought of her deceased parents. "My turn again, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to…why were you so upset day before yesterday?"

Charlie thought hard for a few minutes, trying to decide how to answer her question without sounding weak. He decided honesty was they best way to go and started explaining, "Technically, I'm here on holiday, but I took it now instead of during the Christmas holidays for a reason. Right before I left, one of the Norwegian Ridgebacks had just died, and it tore me up, as it was one of my favorites."

"That's horrible, Charlie, I'm so sorry." Hermione whispered, placing a dainty hand on his upper arm in a gesture of comfort. He reached around and covered her hand with his, nodding his thanks, before continuing.

"Yes, well, the same day that I caused your and Ron's argument I had an errand to make, I left the Burrow and headed straight for Hogwarts."

"Why Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, wondering if something had gone wrong at the school.

"Had to go see Hagrid and let him know. Poor bloke couldn't stand the thought. Kept saying he wished he could have kept it, even thought we both knew that was totally unrealistic."

Something finally clicked in Hermione's brain and her eyes widened in surprise before she said in a low, breathy voice, "Norbert." Charlie chuckled before replying,

"Berta, actually, apparently Norbert was a girl. I hatched one of her eggs myself, named the little fellow Spot." Hermione snorted in reply, trying to hold in her giggles. Apparently, Charlie came from the Hagrid school of naming pets. "So, that's why I rented the room at the Three Broomsticks, I needed to pull myself together after my visit to Hagrid before I tried to face you or Ron, but you took care of it for me," Charlie grinned.

"I'm so sorry about that, I acted way too hastily. I should have calmed down first, but the Weasley temper seems to be rubbing off on me. It's your turn to ask."

"It is, isn't it. Speaking of Weasleys, how did you come to stay at the Burrow? Mum was a bit vague on the details."

Charlie watched Hermione's face fall and started to regret asking her, before she answered, quietly, "I have my own house, in muggle London, but it's always so quiet now. During the worst part of the war, before I left with the boys on the hunt for horcruxes, I modified my parents' memories and shipped them off to Australia." Charlie nodded, he knew this much already, but he hadn't known what had become of the Grangers afterwards. Hermione continued after a shuddering breath, "After the defeat of Voldemort, I found them and reinstated their memories, and they moved back to London and started up their practice. A week later, I came home and found them both…." Hermione couldn't continue, and she gave a shuddering sob. Charlie didn't ask her to finish, he could guess the rest of the story, as his father had let him know in several letters about the rounding up of rogue death eaters that had managed to escape the scene of the final battle. He looked at her helplessly before pulling her into his embrace, causing her to sit sideways in his lap, shushing her and whispering nonsense comforting words into her hair, rocking back and forth. After a few minutes, her shoulders stopped shaking and she shook her head, then looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. Charlie couldn't remember the last time he had seen a more beautiful person than Hermione was at that moment. Hermione started trying to escape his embrace, remembering Ginny's words about his aversion to public displays of affection.

"Oh, Charlie, I'm so sorry, I've soaked your shirt, and I must look a fright." She said, almost whispering, as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. Charlie silently handed her a white hankie, smiling slightly and shaking his head before replying,

"You look find, Hermione. Cry on me all you want, whenever you want, that's what I'm here for." He mumbled quietly into her ear before brushing his lips across her cheeks, tasting the saltiness of her tears on his lips.

"Weasley, part of two?" Came a woman's voice from the other side of the room, causing them both to jump, making Hermione giggle a bit.

"Now, that's the spirit. Apparently that's our portkey, you ready?" Charlie smiled at her as they stood and he took her hand. As they walked toward the desk and both placed their hands on a rusty soda can, he answered her unasked question, "I don't like to apparate internationally 'cause I have a tendency to splinch myself." Hermione giggled at the thought of Charlie's left arm still in Romania when the rest of him landed in Paris. He narrowed his eyes at her before replying shortly, "It's not funny."

"Yes, it is. Thanks, Charlie, I needed that."

Charlie smiled at her, glad she could laugh so soon after such an emotional upset, and replied, "glad to be of service." They portkey activated and they whirled away, landing at the magical consulate in Paris.

* * *

After another fifteen minute wait in France, they took another portkey to the magical government building in Bucharest, where Charlie and Hermione both turned over their wands for inspection and bags for customs. A bored looking security guard handed their wands and bags back before beckoning them through the door of the Romanian magical transportation office.

"Do you always have to go through all that?" Hermione asked, pocketing her wand.

"No, normally I floo straight to the Burrow from the personnel office at the Reserve. I chose not to go that route this time because I didn't want to go through all the paperwork of having a visitor, and I certainly don't want to go to work on my holiday." Charlie replied, then chuckled at the intrigued expression on Hermione's face.

"Personnel office?" Hermione asked before she could help herself. She had gotten the impression the dragon reserve was rather rustic. Charlie grinned and shook his head before explaining,

"It's a common misconception, Hermione, that all the Dragon tamers live in tents around a bunch of dragon pens. It's more like a modern complex, very similar to your muggle zoos. Don't misunderstand me, the dragons are in pens, but we wranglers actually live in barracks that look a lot like apartment complexes, close to where the dragons are housed. There are several other endangered animals at the reserve."

"It all sounds really interesting, perhaps I can visit soon and see for myself." Hermione replied as Charlie hailed a cab. They both scooted into the back seat before Charlie gave the driver directions in Romanian.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"

"Impatient one, aren't you? We're almost there…maybe ten more minutes."

Hermione grinned at his evasive answer and contented herself with looking out the window at the rolling hills and the mountains off in the distance. She didn't think she had ever seen anything quite like it, even on the many skiing trips she had taken with her parents. She noticed they were climbing a steep hill and was surprised to find they had come to a stop at what seemed like the crest of the hill and the driver said something to Charlie in rapid Romanian. Charlie shook his head and replied before paying the driver in muggle money, and turning to Hermione.

"We'll have to walk from here, the drive won't go any further. You don't mind a stroll, do you?"

"No, of course not, but why won't the drive go further? Where are we, anyway?" Hermione asked as she got out of the car, Charlie following her.

"You'll see in a few minutes. Shall we?" Charlie asked, offering his elbow in the same way he had seen the potions professor do. Hermione flung her rucksack over her shoulder as she wrapped her hand into the crook of his elbow. They walked for a few minutes before they came to a set of imposing wrought iron gates with the letters V and D in the middle of the gates. Charlie held his wand to the latch on the gates and they glowed a vibrant green for a few minutes before silently swinging open.

As they walked up the drive, Hermione was surprised to see a castle looming before them, very similar in style to Hogwarts, but perhaps 1/3 the size. She wondered who on Earth could possible live in such a huge residence, or perhaps this was a school or museum of sort? Hermione was becoming more and more excited with every passing moment, hardly able to contain herself, as she added a little bounce to each step. Charlie grinned down at the woman bouncing around next to him, he knew this visit would be a good idea, and hopefully the Viscount would let them hide out in his guest suite for a few days.

They reached the front doors, with two imposing brass knockers shaped like bats in the middle. Hermione was reflecting on the interesting choice of decoration as Charlie banged one of the knockers three times. A few minutes later, a tall, thin man with shoulder length black hair, a hooked nose and a long black cloak on pulled open the door to greet his guests. Something about the man struck Hermione as completely familiar. As the man started to greet his guests, Hermione interrupted him.

"Severus, What are you doing here?"

**End notes: Another cliffie, I know, I'm horrible, mean, evil, yada yada yada. I promise y'all wont have to wait as long for chapter 11 as you did for Chapter 10. I want to thank everyone for reading (I know your out there, I see the number of hits I get) I don't normally like to whore for reviews, but please please please leave something, even if it's to tell me it's a load of codswollop!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here it is, the long awaited final chapter of this story. I apologize before-hand about any loose ends. I tried my best to tie them all up, but I didn't have time to go back and re-read all of the previous chapters. I also apologize for the long wait. I know a lot of people have this story on their alerts and I'm an evil evil person for not updating sooner. I know it's a common excuse to say that real life is being a pain in the keister, but it does happen. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter franchise, it rests in the hands of the inimitable J.K. Rowling. I'm certainly not making any money off this story, or my student loan company would see fit to stop calling me.**

**Caught! Chapter 11**

Hermione stared and the tall, thin fellow standing before her, taken aback. Logically, she knew this man wasn't Severus, as she had just seem the former potions master recently. After an assessing glance over the man's sallow face, Hermione noted that his eyes were a deep green instead of black, his nose not quite as large and straight instead of the crooked appendage she had originally thought, and he had some graying hair at his temples. Hermione abruptly stuck her hand out and rambled,

"Good afternoon, Sir. I'm Hermione Granger and this is my, er, friend, Charlie Weasley." The old man, and Hermione had established that he was well into his hundreds after a second assessing glance, simply smiled beatifically at Charlie and took her hand in his, turning her knuckles up and ghosting his lips across them.

"Greetings, madam, and welcome to my home. I am Vladamir Dracul the third, but you may call me Vlad, as do all my friends." He looked over her shoulder as he stood from his bow and beamed at her companion, "Charlie! How wonderful to see you again! I trust your family is well?"

"Oh yes, Vlad, they're fine. Mum and Dad send their best, although I'm sure Mum worries about you as much as she does any member of her extended family." Charlie grinned as he glanced sideways at Hermione's blushing visage. Charlie thought to himself he rather enjoyed making her blush, as it made those amber eyes sparkle along with the flush staining her apple cheeks. Charlie's woolgathering was interrupted by the Viscount clearing his throat.

"Come in, come in, my friends. I promise I do not bite." Vlad grinned at his own joke before continuing, "I'm curious, though, Miss Hermione, what name did you call me at the door?"

"Hmm? Oh, I called you Severus by accident, sir. You look an awful lot like my benefactor. It's a bit disconcerting, actually." Hermione replied distractedly. She was having a hard time not letting her gaze wander around to the different portraits. She had read Bram Stoker's Dracula for entertainment during one of her summer holidays while she was in school. It had never occurred to her that the main character of the book might actually be _real_.

If that were the case, how many more of her muggle fairy tales were steeped in fact? Passed on orally from generation to generation, each repetition more ludicrous and silly than the last, until sometime during the Age of Enlightenment, when a scholar, or group of adventurers, such as the Grimm Brothers, decided to record the stories and have them bound into books. Her thought process was interrupted when Charlie jabbed his elbow into her side.

Charlie could see the cogs turning in her head, and he suspected she had long since stopped paying attention. The Count, a pleasant sort that had long since grown out of his violent tendencies, seemed to be completely at ease with her daydreaming. It was, however, still rude to not answer a direct question.

"I apologize, Count, I was off in la-la land. What did you ask me?" Charlie and Vlad both chuckled at the expression before Vlad repeated the question.

"This benefactor you speak of, Severus. Does he have a last name?"

"Oh, yes. Professor Severus Snape. He's the potions master at Hogwarts."

"Ah, yes, I thought it might be the same. Severus is a distant cousin of mine, I forget how many times removed." Vlad dismissed the statement with a lazy flick of his hand. They had arrived at a well established drawing room and Vlad gestured the couple to a squashy looking loveseat before seating himself rigidly in a wingback chair across from them. A fire crackled merrily in the grate at the far end of the room. Vlad picked up a wand that had been carelessly left on the small table between them and summoned a decanter and three glasses to him. He held up a bottle of amber colored liquid in question. Charlie nodded once in reply and Hermione gently shook her head.

"Is there anything else I can offer the lady, then? Some tea, perhaps?" Hermione agreed to this, as it was getting close to time for afternoon tea anyway. Vlad reached behind him and pulled a bell-cord that was hidden behind a tapestry, an ornate silver tea service appearing on the table before them just a few minutes later. Vlad motioned for Hermione to attend the service while he poured out two fingers of what appeared to be a fine whiskey for him and Charlie as he continued,

"Severus. Yes, I believe my father and his some-time-odd-great-grandfather were brothers. Which would make us cousins, as mentioned before. I've only ever met him once, he was just a wee fellow, hiding behind his mother's skirts. Bit of a surly child, I can't imagine he'd be much different as an adult. You say he's your benefactor?"

"Was," Hermione corrected after swallowing her sip of tea, thankfully _not_ laced with fire whiskey. "I was interning with him this summer, but my internship will be over with the fortnight next. After that I will be a full-fledged potions mistress in need of a job. Not an easy thing to achieve in a field dominated by crotchety old men." Hermione blushed as she realized who she was talking to. He had to be at least 500 years old. Crotchety, indeed. She opened her mouth to apologize when Vlad interrupted her with a very loud round of laughing.

"You do have some spunk, Miss Granger! I wonder how Severus tolerates you."

"I would think he didn't have much choice, life debt and all." Charlie grinned as he took another sip of his whiskey. Yep, he thought, there's that blush again.

Indeed, Hermione's face had filled with color again. She wondered if whatever she had with Charlie would ensure her constantly looking like a steaming lobster. Considering it, she would gladly give up her dignity for those arms and those lips. _Stop daydreaming and pay attention!_ Her inner-voice yelled at her, causing her to snap back to reality. The Viscount was watching her expectantly, she hadn't missed yet another question, had she?

"Apparently Hermione helped Professor Snape out a dire situation involving a snake bite. Isn't that gist of it, Love?"

"Oh yes, quite." Hermione mumbled in response. She had to focus on a spot on the wall above the Viscounts left shoulder to keep herself from tacking Charlie bodily to the floor. When that small word, _Love_, had slipped all gravelly from his throat, Hermione felt her stomach twist and a fission of heat down her lower back. Not quite sure what to make of her body's reaction to the pet name, Hermione set her tea, only half drunk, down as gently as she could onto the ornate platter of the service. The enchanted set, assuming she was done as all the pieces had been returned to their original position, disappeared from sight.

"Excuse me, _Monseiur le Compte,_ I need a bit of fresh air. Might we take a tour of the grounds. I'd like to explore a bit, it's a lovely keep."

The Viscount puffed up with pride at the compliment to his abode and agreed amiably that a walk in the open air would probably do them all some good after the stuffiness of the drawing room. They spend the afternoon exploring the castle, Vlad regaling them with tales of battles fought and won, love affairs that had gone on behind the closed castle doors, and describing in lavish detail parties and celebrations that his home had played host to over the years. The trio sat on a low copse in the west garden, watching the sun sink below the Transylvanian hills, when Hermione began to shiver in the cool night air. Vlad decided to make a quiet departure as Charlie tenderly wrapped his cloak around her shoulders, noting the admiration shining in the redheads eyes. Charlie would make an excellent Viscount one day, as well as a wonderful addition to the Order Of The Dragon, a group of wizards who tended to the upkeep and secrecy of dragon reserves all around the world. What the Catholic church didn't know wouldn't hurt them, he thought to himself and chuckled. Vlad himself had long since outgrown the look of a knight in shining armor prepared to fight dragons for a lady's favor, but his young protégé certainly fit the part well. From the looks of it, Charlie had already picked out the perfect Lady to cast his favor upon.

* * *

Hermione and Charlie sat on the low stone wall, silently watching the sun sink behind the trees when she felt Charlie warm cloak slide around her shoulders. He stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, not squeezing or rubbing, just resting. She decided she rather liked the feeling, knowing his presence was behind her. He was dependable, she could fall back on him. As if she had to give credence to her thoughts, she fells slowly backwards, where her shoulders rested against his lower stomach. He laughed, the rumbling sound roiling through his stomach, making her shoulders vibrate.

"That can't be very comfortable, Love. Let's try it like this."

Charlie took her hand, helping her stand, and walked around to the front of the copse, sitting on the ground with his back to the wall. He placed her between his legs and helped her lean back against his broad chest. "Better?" He whispered in her ear, causing goose pimples to rise on the back of her neck.

"Charlie…" Hemione started, not sure what she wanted to ask, but knowing they needed to establish where they stood.

"Yes, Love?" Charlie asked, ghosting his lips against the shell of her ear.

"What…How…Where is this going?"

"Where is what going?" Charlie asked, turning her chin so she could look at him over her shoulder.

"This…thing we have. Between us. Are we in a relationship? Am I your girlfriend? Are you my…friend? Boyfriend? Lover?" Charlie chuckled at the barrage of questions.

"One at a time, Hermione. Yes, I agree there is something between us. I rather fancy you, and I believe you rather fancy me. At the moment, we are friends who fancy each other, as anyone with two eyes and brain can see. If you want there to be more, then you'd best decide soon."

"What about logistics? After all, I live in London. And you live in Romania. I know you said you have an apartment?" Charlie nodded in assent to this question, "But provided we took the next step and decided to live together, how would that work out?"

"Whoa, slow down, Love. You're over thinking things. Yes, we live in different countries, but didn't you say in two weeks you would be looking for a potions' mistress position?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with _this_?" Hermione gestured between them with her hand.

"I happen to know of an opening in the infirmary at the reserve. Something about needing a constant supply of medicinal potions, that the monthly bill was getting expensive and that it would be more cost-effective to just hire someone to brew for them. Sounds right up your alley, and we'd see each other on a much more regular basis."

"Oh, Charlie! How wonderful, thank you!" Hermione threw her arms around his neck, effectively turning around in his lap, making him groan internally. "I'll get Severus to write up a commendation as soon as he returns."

"That'd be a good idea. Another good idea would be to stop wiggling," Charlie groaned as she shifted to sit with her arms around his neck.

"Oh, really, Mr. Weasley? And just what are you going to do about it?" Hermione teased, then shrieked as Charlie picked her up bridal-style and started heading towards the keep and to the room they would be sharing for the night.

* * *

Vlad watched to two from a dormer window in his quarters before heading to bed. His last vial of the Elixir of Life stared at him from his bedside table, right next to the most recently edited copy of his will. He remembered a day, five years previous, when he had literally run into a jovial red-haired man in town, effectively knocking them both over, twisting his ankle in the process. The friendly chap had flung Vlad's arm around his shoulder and helped him hobble up the hill to his large estate: the one the locals feared so much, believing that some crazed monster that fed on blood of humans to live eternally lived there. After some discreet inquiries, Vlad had discovered the red-headed fellows name, Charlie, and that he came into the town every Wednesday evening for a pint of ale with his mates and to buy some paper and ink, for letter writing, or so he said. The locals weren't sure where the young men came from, they believed them to be nomads who lived in the hills, or so Vlad had been told when he had inquired.

Vlad was no fool. Parchment? Ink? Letter writing? He knew Charlie must be one of the wizards who kept up the Reserve not far from his abode, and he sent him an invitation to dine with him post-haste. Charlie had gladly accepted the invitation, inquiring after the old man's health, and a friendship had sprung up long before either one established how many mutual acquaintances they had had in common.

Vlad pointedly ignored the vial and slid between the comforting white cotton sheets of his bed. He had never gotten used to the feel of silk sheets, they were too slippery on his skin, and had insisted that he have warm cotton instead. He took one last look at the vial of Elixir and sighed. He knew quite well if he didn't take it, his next sleep would be Eternal. He saluted upwards to the room where he knew Charlie and Hermione were located and grinned. Yes, a perfect couple to leave his holdings to. Vlad fell asleep to dream of a wedding day, a tall red-haired man carrying a bushy brown-haired girl over the threshold of his home.

**A/N 2: I wikipedia'd Vlad The Impaler, then took a LOT of liberties, just to let you know. I hope you enjoyed this wacky ride with me. I doubt there will be any kind of sequel, but you never know, and if anyone should decide they want to write a continuation of their own, just let me know so I can read it. Thanks so much and please leave a review!**


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